The present invention relates generally to the field of methods or systems for any mobile devices to use other computation, interface, and/or communication resources by assuming a standardized execution environment and downloading code or a reference to code, downloading standardized data for local display and manipulation, direct or indirect hardware control and/or using a meta user interface interpretation (e.g., X windows).
Mobile communications and computation devices come in many forms, but conventionally include portability versus utility compromises in the design. For example, a watch is conventionally a very portable device, but of limited functionality. If a watch included a 20-inch monitor, for example, attached to it, the user could display, navigate, and interact with the system to a very high degree. However, in this exaggerated example, the watch would be of very low portability. Handheld computer, personal digital assistant, and mobile phone designers, among others, are especially aware of this tradeoff, especially as these devices are being asked to include more functionality and asked to carry out more sophisticated tasks. However, although the mobile devices are being asked to provide more functionality, a paramount requirement is that the device remain easily portable.
Accordingly, there is a need for interfacing highly mobile devices (e.g., handheld computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, and watches) to devices which include more rich and usable computation, communication, or interaction capabilities, which may be less portable. There is also a need for a standardized environment for mobile devices to work in concert with less mobile, more powerful devices.
Certain custom solutions have been devised. For example, systems including a handheld computer connected to a personal computer with a specialized cradle attached, may be used in which specialized custom software is run both on the handheld computer and the personal computer (PC). As the user connects the two devices, he may, for example, wish to do large amounts of data entry on the PC because the PC is a much more efficient data manipulation system. The difficulty here is that there is a requirement of a custom solution on both ends of the link and there is no facility for utilizing the resources available on the PC unless the customized software is available on both ends of the link.
Further, there is a need for standardizing the communication of data and programs between the portable device and the less portable, more function-rich device. Providing such standardized communication provides greater utility to the portable or mobile devices, as they can be used in concert with many widely deployed systems.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs